After a burglary, the insurance company is your ally. The recovery and compensation for the property loss begins immediately when an insurance claim is filed. Whether it is the burglary of your home, car, gym locker or other theft, the insurance company is there to help the property owner. On the other hand, the police are conducting a criminal investigation, and their primary focus is to catch the criminal. The crime of burglary is a serious crime and in some states if a home is entered at night, then the crime is immediately classified as a felony. The police investigation will concentrate on the criminal, bringing them to trial, and assist to obtain a conviction. Conversley, the insurance company’s sole focus is to recover your stolen property if possible and to compensate you for the loss as soon as feasible.
The sole focus of the police investigation of the burglary is to determine the facts of the crime; therefore, all recovered property will be held and sent to a crime lab for fingerprint analysis. To assist in building the case for a felony crime conviction, all of your property while it may be recovered will not be released, but held until the property is potentially connected to the individual who did the crime. Once their investigation is complete and the case has gone to trial, the police detectives will release your property to your custody. Keep in mind that the release of your property may be several months after the actual crime, and this is where your insurance steps in to help with the loss.
The insurance company assists property owners with the loss by opening a burglary claim. The claim process allows the insurance company to compensate the property owner and to determine the disposition of the property later. People insure their high value belongings against a loss due to theft for many reasons, but mainly due to value. However, if an item is stolen that is required for an individual in a money-making business, then the compenstation must cover lost wages that could have been earned. When assisting with the claim of the missing property, the insurance will obtain facts from the police and others, they are in constant communication with the property owner for descriptions, and they compensate the property owner.
So, when it comes to tips for working with insurance companies during a burglary loss, the best advice is to call the insurance company immediately as soon as the case is filed and a case number is assigned. Keep close at hand in a secure location a complete inventory of insured items or equipment with all of the pertinent data. The best place to store this list is in a bank safety deposit box that is federally insured.